Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Crock-pot Ravioli Casserole

I found this recipe in a Rival cookbook at my Aunt Annette's house.  I get so excited about good crock-pot recipes.  They come in so handy on busy days and especially on Sundays, when we come home from church starving and ready to eat.  This was filling and flavorful and the kids loved it!  Three stars in our house.
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt/pepper
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed (I used fresh spinach)
16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

*Brown ground beef with onion and garlic.  Put in crock-pot and add sauce, tomatoes and seasonings. Cook for 6-7 hours on low.  Add the last 4 ingredients during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn crock-pot to high.  I added the fresh spinach, pasta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella and I mixed it all up really well.  Then I added the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella to melt on the top.

63 comments:

  1. Hello!!
    I love your site! I hope you don't mind but I gave you a shout out on my teacher blog. I cut and pasted this recipe and raved about your site. If you don't want me to do this in the future just let me know. Thanks for all the yummy ideas!
    I'm making this tomorrow.

    Julie
    Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher

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  2. How many servings does this make?

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  3. We have six people in our family and we had leftovers, so I would say 8 servings.

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  4. I found your recipe on Pinterest. We are in the midst of a kitchen renovation so new crock-pot recipes are a must. This was easy and excellent. Thanks so much!!

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  5. What size can of stewed tomatoes??

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  6. I used a 15 oz. can of stewed tomatoes. Sorry I should put that on there!

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  7. Have you tried to put the ground beef in the crock-pot raw and turn in on high instead of cooking the meat first?

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  8. Made this tonight!! Really good! Just bake some Texas toast and you have a great meal!!

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  9. Can you just use good ol Ragu? Or any other pasta sauce rather than tomato sauce and all the seasonings?

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  10. Any ideas on what I could substitute for the tomatoes? Food allergies here and this sounds like it could be so good!!
    Thank you

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  11. I guess you could substitute a white sauce for the tomatoes and tomato sauce but I haven't tried that so I'm not sure how it would work. If you find a good solution, let us know!

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  12. How much fresh spinach? This looks so good!

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  13. In your picture, are those portion plates? As in recommended servings of each group? If so, where did you get those?

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  14. I got them at Target a long time ago but I don't think they are portion plates. Just fun plates for kids. I like the idea of portion plates, though. I might have to look for those.

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  15. Hi There! I made this today and it was amazing. My entire family loved it! Thank you!

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  16. This was really good! I used ground turkey instead and chopped fresh spinich. Super easy and delicious!

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  17. Made this tonight--but without the crock pot. Thanks for sharing, my family enjoyed it. We made a few modifications. I shared it on my blog and linked back to you.

    http://lizspinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/10/pin-151-pin-152.html#

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  18. This is a great recipe, although I'm still puzzled by the name (where's the ravioli?). I've made it twice, and I feel like the second time it was even better than the first because I added about a cup of wine to the cooked meat and let it reduce for a few minutes before adding it to the crock pot. It added a richness of flavor to the sauce that I think was lacking a little before.

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    Replies
    1. Finally figured out why it's called ravioli when there's no actual stuffed ravioli in the recipe. It's because when freshly grated mozzarella is introduced to bowtie pasta and meat sauce, the taste is somewhat similar to cheese ravioli!

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  19. Could I sub sweet Italian sausage for the ground beef?
    Also, I am wondering if there is anyway to cook the meat in the crock-pot at the same time instead of browning it ahead of time? Is it just to drain after it's browned?

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  20. I just stumbled across your site (thanks Pinterest) and I can't wait to try this recipe this weekend!! I am obsessed with my crock pot and am always interested in new recipes. A few people have asked your thoughts on not precooking the meat...what do you think? I've always been afraid to put raw ground meat in the crock pot!

    I am just learning to cook and am chronicling my adventures (and screw ups...ok, a LOT of screw ups) at my blog www.khaosinthekitchen.com and will feature this recipe sometime soon! Of course, look for the shoutout! I always give credit where credit is due!

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  21. Do you cook the pasta before you put it in the crockpot for 30 mins, or do you put it in uncooked?

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  22. Assume you mean a 1# box of pasta = would that be alot of pasta when cooked??

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  23. James, you cook the pasta first.

    taylorsoutback, it is a lot but it's the perfect amount for the recipe. You could half it if you're not feeding very many people.

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  24. This recipe looks so good I want to try it next week.

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  25. I like this, but my idea of a good Crockpot meal would be if you didn't have to pretty much cook everything before putting it into the Crockpot. :)

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  26. We tried this a few weeks back and LOVED IT! It's in my crockpot right now simmering away! It is so easy but simple rich and delicious. With texas toast and a salad it makes a great dinner. I like the idea one of the readers suggested to add a bit of wine while cooking the sauce and might try that tonight.

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  27. Big hit! I mixed half italian sausage and ground Chuck. Turned out great. Will be in my week dinner rotation.

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  28. What size crockpot would be best and if using frozen spinach does it need to be drained. Thanks.

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  29. Do you think this would freeze okay if I made it all but only ate half and froze the rest? Any tips?

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  30. I feel like 6-7 hours is a really long time to cook if it's basically cooked already?

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  31. I get so excited about good crock-pot recipes. They come in ... ccrockpot.blogspot.com

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  32. Your ravioli looks delicious. I make a similar one, which my family enjoys on a monthly basis.

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  33. Has anyone tried just throwing all of the ingredients in the crock pot at once?

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  34. I am preparing this right now for dinner. I added extra onion and garlic. I don't think putting the meat in raw would be a good idea because then you would have all that grease floating around in the crockpot.

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  35. Don't get me wrong, this recipe looks delicious. I love spinach in pasta. I'm just rather puzzled about why on earth the crock pot needs to be involved when you're already having to take the time to cook the pasta and brown the meat?! There's absolutely no need for the crock pot,and I don't see it saving you any time.

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  36. Don't get me wrong, this recipe looks delicious. I love spinach in pasta. I'm just rather puzzled about why on earth the crock pot needs to be involved when you're already having to take the time to cook the pasta and brown the meat?! There's absolutely no need for the crock pot,and I don't see it saving you any time.

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  37. For those questioning the use of a crockpot.... it really blends the flavors. Also you can let the sauce cook all day and throw in the last 4 ingredients when you get home. No rushing around. Dinner when you walk in the door.

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  38. Hi - this looks amazing and I will be trying it this weekend - just wondering if anyone tried freezing it and if it works ok? Should it be frozen with the pasta or without? and one last question - tomato sauce is this tomato puree or a jar of tomato sauce (not in the US so this might just be a difference in terminology!). Thanks!

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  39. This looks great, I can't wait to try it next week! I notice a lot of comments regarding the cooking the meat and pasta prior and just wanted to note that I make chili with pasta all the time and there is no need to pre-cook it. If you put the pasta in dry and turn it on high it will cook in the sauce in about 30 minutes, just keep an eye on it as you may need to add a little water or broth if the pasta is absorbing too much of the sauce. Also I usually buy a large package of ground meat (beef, sausage, or turkey) and brown it all at once and then just portion it out into smaller bags (like 1lb per bag) and freeze it for recipes like this. I can grab a bag out and toss the meat in the crockpot frozen with the other ingredients and go, works great!

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  40. I made this tonight and was delicious! I used 1 lb of beef and 1/2 lb sausage. Will def make again!

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  41. I made this tonight and was delicious! I used 1 lb of beef and 1/2 lb sausage. Will def make again!

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  42. We really loved this recipe and I was crying with joy that my kids ate spinach! I used fresh also and they thought it was basil. ;) I'm not a huge fan of stewed tomatoes so used petite diced tomatoes with italian seasoning. Very good!

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  43. I've had this as a pin in my Pinterest "Foodie" board for a minute and I am finally going to use it this weekend. I'm kind of excited about it especially after 4 years of this being on the internet and STILL being popular. Thank you for sharing!

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  44. I know that this is a really old post, but I stumbled upon it & want to make it. When you say fresh spinch do you mean baby spinch or is there another kind of spinch?! (I know that sounds dumb....but hey hopefully someone benefits from my dumb question) also it says 10oz frozen what would be the fresh equivalent?

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  45. I don't care for canned stewed tomatoes. Is there an equivalent I can use?

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    1. You can just use a can of crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes. I don’t like stewed tomatoes either!

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  46. As to the spinach I use any fresh spinach. As to the stewed tomatoes we don't like them either. I use petite diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings. Just made this again tonight. My family loves it!

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  47. Dumb question, why does the sauce need to cook for 6 hours?

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  48. Just curious. Why do you call it ravioli when it uses bow tie pasta?

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    1. I think it's called ravioli when there's no actual stuffed ravioli in the recipe because when freshly grated mozzarella is introduced to bowtie pasta and meat sauce, the taste is somewhat similar to cheese ravioli!

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  49. I've made this recipe numerous times , and I finally decided to do a meat less version. I added 1 green bell pepper and an 8oz package of baby Bella mushrooms to substitute the meat . Very flavorful and great if you want to incorporate more veggies in your diet and still keep the hearty texture like the ground meat does.

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  50. Making your recipe right now. Had some extra pepperonis and decided to chopped them up and throw them in the crock pot with the meat. I also only had a can of Italian diced tomatoes and just took my immersion blender to them for a few seconds. It smells GREAT!! Can't wait to try it, Thanks!

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  51. I make this frequently and absolutely love it. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw your photo and recipe on social media with the source listed as another site & author! All they've done is change the title. Here is the link in case you want to follow up. http://recipe4diaries.com/crock-pot-bowtie-casserole/

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  54. This crock pot recipe was so good! Made it tonight in my crock pot and it smelled so good when I got home. The only thing I did not put in was the spinach since my hubby is not a fan. This recipe is definitely a keeper !!Thank you Betty!!

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  55. If using fresh spinach, how much do you use? Do you cut it up before putting in the recipe?

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  56. Any suggestions using the Instant Pot for this recipe?

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  57. Angie Dixon I converted it to cook in my Instapot

    The modifications I made:
    Puree the stewed tomatoes
    add 1 1/2C Water
    I use mini bow tie and do not precook
    I use the 5 cheese italian blend cheese

    Here is the revised instructions I came up with:

    *Brown ground beef with onion and garlic, chop the spinach and put in with meat and onion until wilted . Put in instapot and add sauce, tomatoes, water, uncooked pasta and seasonings and stir. Cook high pressure for 6 min. (8 min if using large bowtie pasta) When the cooking time is done Let it rest for 10-15 min then open the instapot and add 1 ½ C mozzarella and mix well. Top with 1/2c mozzarella or ½ c Italian shredded cheese.

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